Are you "particular"?

[fatelk]

I've noticed something over the years, in regards to those who reload ammunition. Some of us are much more particular that others. For some it has to do with what type of shooting they do (benchrest or the like), for some it's discipline or training, for others it's just a personality thing.

I was talking to a friend a while back and he was showing me a relatively new gun he'd had for a while. He mentioned exactly how many rounds it had fired. I looked at him funny I guess, because I don't keep track of how many rounds my guns fire. He said he keeps a log of precisely how many rounds he fires through each gun on each range session. He said something like "Your car has an odometer, doesn't it?"

He also keeps careful track of how many times his brass has been loaded, and won't ever touch range brass, rifle or pistol. I also noticed in another thread several people mentioned how they retire brass after a certain number of loadings. Other people typically have no idea how many times a certain case has been loaded, and it get retired when it starts looking tired.

There's no judgement in my ramblings. To each their own; we all have our ways of doing things. It's just interesting to me how we do things differently.

[Dieselhorses]

It's all good if we articulate within reason when it comes to reloading and such as long as we don't become "complacent"

[John Boy]

Thanks for the ramble - happy to read you have nothing else important to do :-D

[fatelk]

Sometimes a thought goes through my head and I type up something pointless and rambling. Most often I recognize the pointlessness of it and delete it before posting. Today I inadvertently posted it. I immediately looked for a way to delete the thread, but there must not be a way to do that?

[mattw]

I consider myself particular... I reload everything on a single stage. My bench guns are each weighed charges, weighed brass and weighed bullets. My cast bullets go back if they are not perfect. But, I fire brass until it dies. My bench brass starts showing ridges on the necks... it goes. I wipe down the outside of steel and SS guns at the end of every outing. I do not clean the bores on general purpose guns every time they are shot and I can't tell you how many times any of them have been fired. My bench gun barrels will let me know when they have been shot to many times. I do generally field strip a semi-auto each trip out and lube the lock work and patch the barrel. My exception... 10/22's and 22/45's get cleaned when they look gross or don't want to work correctly.

Give the above info... some of my guns never get fired. I collect S&W pre-lock SS revolvers. Several are user guns, even some of the less the 200 made Hortons. They get extra cleaning, but I am willing to loose 10% of the value to enjoy most of them. Excluded are several 610's, a couple of 625's, a 627 and a 632. That said... they may get shot some day, but I have shooters and these are safe queens.

There is a difference between anal and particular!

[Pressman]

The thread is an interesting look at personalities. Let's see what others have to say.

[robg]

I keep track by counting my primer usage .wipe guns down after use and maybe a pull through ,use brass till it splits or looks worn or damaged .wished I'd keep track when I started ,all loaded on a single stage press.

[jdfoxinc]

I toss brass when it is worn out, like me. I clean my gun when it needs it, oozing crud, or won't function. (If TETOWAKI occurs I'll clean them all before going out.) I love progressive presses. I do weigh every 10th powder drop. Range brass is free brass. Range lead is free lead.

[MyFlatline]

Never even considered counting rounds fired per gun, casings get used til the primers don't seat right or the neck splits. Then again, I anneal to prolong my brass life. I have "different" methods in reloading. I prefer to size and prime all my brass before I ever start to load. Is all stored and ready to go. I do this with shotshell as well. Maybe this is because of issues with the progressive press priming jambing on me in the beginning.

[fatelk]

I prefer to size and prime all my brass before I ever start to load. Is all stored and ready to go. I do this with shotshell as well. Maybe this is because of issues with the progressive press priming jambing on me in the beginning.

I do the same thing. I'll sit on the couch with a hand priming tool and a bucket of sized and wet tumbled brass (all sized on a single stage press with a case kicker- goes fast), and prime them while watching TV with my wife. It seems to make loading on the Dillon go so much faster and easier, and I don't have to worry about primer issues.

As to counting primers, I do have a bucket that I've been throwing empty primers in for many years. I have no idea how many are in there, but it weighs over 30 pounds.

[Grmps]

"Your car has an odometer, doesn't it?"

My guns don't :) there must be a reason for this.

[tazman]

If you are shooting for utmost precision, I can understand and see the need for meticulous care in everything having to do with their care and feeding.
For those who only need things to be good enough, that just isn't necessary.
You can be content with safe procedures and good accuracy while having a lot of fun both reloading and shooting.
My firearms all shoot better than I am capable of shooting them with the ammunition that I produce. I have seen them produce that really great accuracy when someone else shot them using my ammo.

[CastingFool]

I have an engineer friend that not only he can tell you how many rounds his rifles have fired, he scans each and every target, with weather conditions, etc. Besides dedicated brass, each rifle has its own die set. Completely cleans each rifle every season, whether it's been fired or not. Most of his rifles shoot moa at 200yds. His favorite round is the 308 W. He has 18 rifled chambered for the 308w.

[wv109323]

I am particular in volume loading. I load my .45 acp and .38 spec. on Star presses. The loading is proven by ransom resting on ocassion. With rifle plinking ammo I use thrown charges. If I use match rifle bullets then I weigh each powder charge.
I usually segregate my brass in ammo cases of 100 or 50 rounds each. When I see problems I usually toss the entire ammo case. Depending on caliber and usage ,I usually use the same headstamp in the ammo cases.
My loading practices on dependent on past experiences.

[marek313]

I dont get very anal about straight wall brass so I reload those until primer pockets are shut or brass splits. I resize and prime on single stage while I watch TV then do rest on my Loadmaster. Similar to what many other members here do.
I pay more attention to rifle brass and I separate it by head stamp, trim necks and clean primer holes etc. Stuff that I dont worry that much when working with common handgun calibers. I mark my rifle brass to keep track of how many times I reload it but its more of a guide just so I have an idea if its still worth reloading. I only use LC brass for 300AAC as i ran into some thick necks from other makers before and had to pull about 200 rounds so i dont want to do that again.
I have a notebook and I take notes and pics on my cell phone when I go to the range. I really have to get all my info better organized.
I'm an Engineer by profession but I hate documentation. I never took notes in college and I was lucky enough where most of my studying was done while walking between my car and classroom. I just had to listen in class to make sure I understood whatever we were working on and I was good.

So I guess I need odometer on my guns and a hot secretary to take notes for me. :bigsmyl2:


I never understood how people can really keep track of rounds fired through a gun. Just sounds like a nightmare and a lot of effort. I have an idea , plus or minus 1K but not exact number or anything close to it.

[Hick]

I keep my brass in sets of the same head stamp, and keep track of how many times each has been reloaded-- so I guess that means I'm keeping track of how about many rounds each firearm has seen. I just do this to spread out the usage (keep all brass sets at about the same number of reloads). I run the brass until it starts to show splits. I don't weigh the brass and I don't individually weigh my cast bullets-- just look them over to see if the look OK. Range brass is fine with me (I've never, ever, bought factory ammo or brass for my CZ 527 in 223 Remington-- all it gets is reloads from someone else's used brass). I guess you could put me down as not very particular.

[Texas by God]

Peculiar, but not that particular.

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[bedbugbilly]

This is not meant to ruffle anybody's feathers . . .

There are all kinds of people . . .those who are competitive and those who aren't . . . it doesn't make a tinker's darn if it is in shooting, sports, keeping dandelions out of your yard . . . .

i have cast for a long time . . . usually have good casting runs . . . check them after they cool and if some have obvious issues with fill out due to being in the first part of the run - they go back in to the pot. That's about as "competitive" as I get or as "particular" about it.

I take good care of my guns, always have . . . but I don't keep round counts. Same as with my brass . . . I don't count number of times unless I'm REALLY curious . . . I check 'em and if bad, cull them.

To me, it's important to be "particular" about reloading the cartridge as far as safety goes . . and I never reload if someone is around and my attention is not 100%.

I used to shoot on a team for a number of years . . . it started out with a bunch of guys who wanted to do it to have fun. As time went on, fellows dropped out, new ones came in. All it took was a couple of guys who were "super competitive and particular" and the fun soon went away . . . and most of us went on to other things.

For those that are "particular" . . . I don't view it as a bad thing . . . it is just "their" thing. We all have our "quirks" and that's what makes us all individuals. It's only when a person gets excessively "OCD" about things that they really need to step back and take an honest look at themselves . . . as it's usually a symptom for something else that needs to be addressed.

It's about having fun . . . and people just enjoy it in different ways. When it stops to be fun . . . well . . . people change hobbies and interests all the time.

[MyFlatline]

This is not meant to ruffle anybody's feathers . . .

There are all kinds of people . . .those who are competitive and those who aren't . . . it doesn't make a tinker's darn if it is in shooting, sports, keeping dandelions out of your yard . . . .

i have cast for a long time . . . usually have good casting runs . . . check them after they cool and if some have obvious issues with fill out due to being in the first part of the run - they go back in to the pot. That's about as "competitive" as I get or as "particular" about it.

I take good care of my guns, always have . . . but I don't keep round counts. Same as with my brass . . . I don't count number of times unless I'm REALLY curious . . . I check 'em and if bad, cull them.

To me, it's important to be "particular" about reloading the cartridge as far as safety goes . . and I never reload if someone is around and my attention is not 100%.

I used to shoot on a team for a number of years . . . it started out with a bunch of guys who wanted to do it to have fun. As time went on, fellows dropped out, new ones came in. All it took was a couple of guys who were "super competitive and particular" and the fun soon went away . . . and most of us went on to other things.

For those that are "particular" . . . I don't view it as a bad thing . . . it is just "their" thing. We all have our "quirks" and that's what makes us all individuals. It's only when a person gets excessively "OCD" about things that they really need to step back and take an honest look at themselves . . . as it's usually a symptom for something else that needs to be addressed.

It's about having fun . . . and people just enjoy it in different ways. When it stops to be fun . . . well . . . people change hobbies and interests all the time.

Well said and I totally agree about getting to competitive. I have left many of a team sport because of it.

I want to have fun..

[modified5]

I am particular when it comes to firearm safety and reloading safety.
As far as round count, how many times a case has been reloaded, nope.
I used to go shoot ground squirrels every weekend and burn at least 1100 rounds every time between multiple firearms.
I had 1 .223 case that was a LC from1968 that finally split the base off. Complete separation.
I knocked the front half off and went back to shooting.
When they fail I throw them out.
Most of my brass is pick up also. I have no idea how much .223 brass I have and it’s all been free.

[tazman]

MyFlatline----That reminds me of the other kind of person you run into at competitions. They have to bet or they don't want to play.
I can understand money making things a bit more exciting. It just isn't that way for someone shooting on a shoestring budget or for a beginner who doesn't know the game yet.
Anytime I run into someone who just has to bet, I offer to play the game for a soda pop. If bragging rights aren't good enough, I am not going to lose a lot of money or a friend over a bet. I just won't play their game.
I have passed up some chances to make fairly serious money(for me) during some of the sports I used to participate in. I was Illinois state champion in archery for a while in the early 90s. Nobody figured a fat old man could possibly shoot that well. I did win several sodas that way.

For my ammo, I am looking for safe and accurate. My standards for accuracy are undoubtedly lower than many or even most here but they suit me fine.

[MyFlatline]

MyFlatline----That reminds me of the other kind of person you run into at competitions. They have to bet or they don't want to play.
I can understand money making things a bit more exciting. It just isn't that way for someone shooting on a shoestring budget or for a beginner who doesn't know the game yet.
Anytime I run into someone who just has to bet, I offer to play the game for a soda pop. If bragging rights aren't good enough, I am not going to lose a lot of money or a friend over a bet. I just won't play their game.
I have passed up some chances to make fairly serious money(for me) during some of the sports I used to participate in. I was Illinois state champion in archery for a while in the early 90s. Nobody figured a fat old man could possibly shoot that well. I did win several sodas that way.

For my ammo, I am looking for safe and accurate. My standards for accuracy are undoubtedly lower than many or even most here but they suit me fine.

I always tried to walk away when someone wanted to bet,,especially in Billiards. It never failed to involve the law. I was not great but good enough to have issues. As I said, lets have fun and enjoy it while we can. Life is to short to be miserable, that's must be why I have 2 x wives...:-D

[RED BEAR]

well i thought i was particular until i started reading i have no idea how many rounds any gun has fired a lot but not quite enough. can't tell you how many times my brass has been reloaded. i do pay attention to exactly how much powder goes in and how deep they are seated and amount of crimp. the rest i have no idea brass gets tossed when it doesn't look good. and i hand lube so i can check everyone.

[tazman]

I always tried to walk away when someone wanted to bet,,especially in Billiards. It never failed to involve the law. I was not great but good enough to have issues. As I said, lets have fun and enjoy it while we can. Life is to short to be miserable, that's must be why I have 2 x wives...:-D

Billiards is something I understood from a mental perspective and enjoyed doing, but, I could never master. I was never even good at it. I think a 5 year old who could push a cue could have beaten me.

[lightman]

Peculiar, but not that particular.

This is me! I cull my cast bullets pretty hard. Friends tell me I'm too picky. The weight variations on my cast bullets rival factory match bullets. I hand sort wheel weights. I know that a small amount of zinc won't hurt but I strive for zero. I use range brass in my pistols and 223's. And its loaded on a Dillon. I do randomly check the charge weights on a scale. My match ammo starts out as unfired, usually Lapua. My big game hunting ammo starts out as once fired that I bought as new. I do some benchrest stuff to my match and hunting ammo and scale weigh the charges. I wipe the outside off on every gun that I shoot. I lightly clean my reloading dies after using them. I also lightly oil the ram on my presses. I take shooting and reloading safety serious and demand that anyone that I'm with do the same.

[M-Tecs]

It depends on the intended usage of the ammo and guns. For my cowboy action it being safe and reliable is the only real requirement. On my 1,000 yard match rifles I do what to know and control every deal as precisely as humanly possible. On the other had my cowboy loads were my cast bullet culls go.

[Biggin]

I haven't been casting long enough to be super picky but ....... I cull my boolits and my cases ar every point along the way. Pouring sizing loading. Safety safety safety!! Whether shooting or reloading. I clean my defensive guns after every shooting session every thing else when It starts malfunctioning!

[44Blam]

Funny enough, I know how many bullets have gone through my newest gun: It's 43.

This is actually funny because I had 60 boolits and shot 40 and was good with my shooting for the day.
BUT there was a kid that left a clay at the 100 yard and he was going to pick it up. I looked at him and asked him if he wanted to shoot that clay and that he could shoot my gun if he wanted.
He shot and missed, his dad shot and missed, then I asked them both if they wanted another shot or if they minded if I took it out. I took it out...

[Tom W.]

The loads I make for my hunting rifle may have different brass, but the powder, primer and bullet will all be the same as I've found a load that works well with my rifle. I also use a scale and a trickler for each load. I'll even trim brass if needed, altho that is the most hated segment of handloading for me. I'm pleased that my 30-06 a.i. hasn't needed trimming since it was rechambered!

For fire forming loads I load them light, but use cast boolits w/ gas checks, just because. I'll use a Lee dipper a lot of the time for those.

My pistol rounds I'll use the RCBS powder measure with the micrometer adjuster. I'll measure every 10th load. I shoot cast in my pistols, so I'll examine the boolits a lot, especially when I go to lubrisize them. If I don't like it, it goes back into the pot for another try.

[Rcmaveric]

Yes and No.. I guess. I pay attention to details. If i were shooting jacketed bullets that can wear out a throat. Then i track. My .270 win has 836 copper jacketed rounds. But cast bullets, probably around 2,000. Cleaning guns, i clean them about quarterly. Unless something is amiss or testing. I try not to sweet the small stuff.

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[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I am particular about some things, ...but sadly, I am relatively careless about some other things.

[Beagle333]

I'm particular about who reloads my shells. It must be only me. I'm also particular who I shoot around, and that's why I have my own range. Everything doesn't have to be my way, but it turns out that it is, and that's okay with me. 8-)

[Texas by God]

I built a 44-40 single shot rifle and vowed to never shoot factory ammo in it and keep a round count of shots fired. It's been two months and I've kept the first vow at least....I reload by redneck methods at times but the powder type and charge will correct for safe shooting every time. My 1/2 MOA rifles get fine tuned loads and they get scoop fed plinkers as well.

[reddog81]

I keep track of rounds fire in each gun. It takes about a minute after each session to enter the number of rounds fired into a spreadsheet. Is it particularly useful? No. But it's still kind of interesting to know how many rounds have been through a gun or know how many rounds I shot during a year.

I've started entering chronograph data into a spreadsheet and that takes a little more time but it should end up being a helpful tool once the dataset gets large enough.

[scotner]

Shoot 10mm. You will not recover enough of your brass to worry about how many times you have reloaded it. I also recently bought a 357 Sig conversion barrel for my P229. I have not shot that caliber yet but anticipate similar results.

[fatelk]

I think that often some of the particular things that we do are just because we like to, and not for any terribly useful purpose. Nothing wrong with that.

I read an article a while back where someone did some experimentation loading benchrest ammo. For some they carefully weighed each charge, and others they just used a good powder measure. It turned out for them to be irrelevant. I've heard that same result on more than one occasion. Yet when I load rifle ammo for accuracy (though my accuracy standards are not nearly as high), I weigh each charge. Why? Because I want to.

I wet tumble my brass because I like my reloads to be clean and shiny. I know it doesn't make them shoot any better. I just do it because for some weird reason I like to. I know that most of the bullets I throw back into the pot would shoot just fine. It's illogical to waste time recasting them just for looks, yet I do it anyway. Kind of weird I guess.

[Shopdog]

It sort of depends on where an individual is on their personal mission..... which doesn't need to be the same as anyone elses. Some folks have a hard time with this,not understanding that self actualization works for people at different rates. So they feel it's important to show others what,and how much they know. It can get borish,if you know what I mean if it falls upon someone who "likes" the journey of figuring out things for themselves. Not everyone wants to know the "trick" in a magic act.

Different strokes for different folks. I will admit to keeping track of round counts on new firearms. Until that pce has found itself, detailed notes keep me from useless backtracking.

[kevin c]

I think that I go through a cycle of being extremely particular when starting out on something new, because I want to do it right and want to do it well. It also scratches my OCD itch. After gaining experience, I sometimes become less particular as I learn what really matters to performance or to me personally.

So now my Glocks get ridden hard and can be put away dirty rather than being detail stripped and cleaned every outing. Now I use range brass of unknown provenance for practice, once I have case rolled and inspected it for the headstamps that don't work for me, but still use brass sorted by head stamp for club matches, and once fired for major matches. After filling notebooks full of load data at the beginning, now I use just one or two reliable recipes that are ten PF points over the threshold so I never have to worry at chrono.

But I'm new to casting! Still reading everything and experimenting. Still trying to make every boolit perfect, and since all of them aren't (still working on my technique, equipment, alloys and different molds) some times the cull rate is absurd.

Hopefully I'll learn what is "good enough" for casting for action pistol. Eventually I won't feel that BNE has to analize every chunk of lead I have, will learn that HiTek is actually fairly forgiving, that if the shot hits inside a six by eleven inch target at twenty five yards, most of the time that's all the accuracy needed, etc.

[Petrol & Powder]

I think this issue can be divided into two different themes:

1. Strict control of the reloading process due to the personality of the reloader.

and

2. Strict control of the reloading process in order to achieve a desired result.

I work with people that are borderline OCD and that's just how they function. And I know people that are in the "perfection is the enemy of adequate" category.

There are often diminishing returns and sometimes an obsession with perfection yields very little improvement. If you need that little bit of improvement - then that quest for perfection may be worth the effort. If you seek that perfection because of a personality trait - that may just be how you function.

When reloading rifle ammunition, consistency is the key to accuracy. That requires a lot of attention to small details.
When reloading handgun ammunition, consistency is still important but those diminishing returns can be quickly overcome by some other lowest common denominator.

It does no good to spend effort to make better ammunition if some other factor will grossly outweigh those efforts. In fact, sometimes that extra time is actually harmful.
For example: hand weighing every charge verses throwing a charge by volume. Clearly measuring powder by volume is a faster process. By speeding up the process you may be able to have both more ammunition for shooting practice and more time in which to practice shooting.
Does the greater potential consistency (if it is even greater in the first place) of the weighed charge produce significantly more accurate ammunition in that particular instance ?

[owejia]

Have always been particular about my casting {like good looking bullets} and reloading{tumble in walnut media after reloading for long term storage}, but as I've got older less particular about some other things, especially how my welds look. Always tried to make them look like a nice layered dirt dobber nest, now just so they hold.

[toallmy]

I am pretty picky with my special rifle ammo loading ,but not very picky with my fun loads so I can go both ways but , record keeping very little just the basics .

[Smk SHoe]

I keep a -4 record of fire for my bench guns ( Artillery thing). Tracks type of round and power rating ( 90% of max etc..) along with a round count on each barrel. Ambient temps and pictures of targets along with crono data.

Non bench guns ammo gets a safe load but brass is used until it dies or gets lost. Then replaced with range brass.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I feel compelled to respond to this thread as this is both one of my pet peeves and goals in life.

As a Machinist it kind of becomes necessary to be particular to a certain extent, depending on the job. I have to sell the things I make to a variety of customers. One being the US Navy.

I have a"source inspection" on Monday and the parts I am trying to sell will be scrutinized closely. I had to scrutinize them first and couldn't let inadequacies pass thru as the Inspector will catch them, and reject the parts, and I won't get paid! I kind of need the money so I have to make it go right.

My Friend John Dembura told me along time ago that the two components of Craftsmanship are,,,

1. Attention to Detail
2. Personal Responsibility.

For some reason they don't teach this in school?

The Attention to Detail part is kind of obvious as you have to see all the fine points of your work in order to produce good work.

The Personal Responsibility part is, after you find fault, not letting it go out the door!

Doesn't matter if you are Flippin' Burgers or building the Space Shuttle if these two components aren't present,,, your work will probably suck.

And in the immortal words of the guy who calibrated my Trava-Dials on my Mill and then drove home to Havasu from Ventura and then drove back the next morning because they weren't right, (8 hours both ways! 4 times total!) and was waiting for me when I got to work,,,,

If your work sucks, you suck!

These two things have stayed with me for the last 40 years.

I generally have little or no respect for individuals who suck. And there's plenty of them out there!

The "Attitude" of Craftsmanship is a learned thing, but I have found many who had it naturally, or it was instilled into them by their Parents or Mentors early on. I have a nephew who came by it naturally. He graduated High School as a Sophomore! And after 2 years of local college he is lining up on MIT! He is 17 years old.

His dad is my youngest Brother and is a Captain with Etihad Airlines out of Abu Dhabi and flies Boeing 777's. Neither he nor I went to college.

When it comes to loading ammunition there are varying degrees of of quality that is acceptable for the given use.

However the difference between those degrees is minimal simply because no matter what kind of ammo you reload the process is nearly the same.

You knock out the primer and resize the case.
You put in a new primer and charge the case .
Seat the boolit and maybe crimp it.

There are a variety of methods and tools to do every one of the reloading operations, and therein lies the "particular" component. You can do as much or a little as you choose.

Depending on the end use, various types of ammunition will receive varying degrees of scrutiny.

My Pistol ammo is all loaded on a D550B because the volume is high. It is setup the way I want that ammo to come out, and it holds those settings very well. I still have to check everything periodically to make sure it hasn't drifted! IE "Personal Responsibility"

My Precision Rifle ammo is all loaded on one of my Hand Presses now, and I weigh every charge. The repeated handling of each round makes it easier to find discrepancies. IE: assists "Attention to Detail." Personal Responsibility is just there due to the Attention to Detail.

If I see something wrong I either fix it or scrap the round. "Personal Responsibility" once again.

When loading pistol ammo sometimes the primer goes in backwards or the bullet doesn't go in strait. At the end of the run I disassemble the offending rounds and either fix them and reload them correctly, or salvage whatever I can and recycle it. IE, Personal Responsibility again.

So you can see that these two components can be applied to whatever degree you feel comfortable with to maintain some degree of quality in your ammo or for that matter, anything else you do.

The degree to which you apply them will determine if you are a "Craftsman," or if "you Suck." YMMV

However if you weren't aware of the "Two Components of Craftsmanship" you certainly are now, and as a result there is no good reason why you should suck!

So lets get after it! (chris cuomo from cnn)

Randy

[redhawk0]

I'm particular about my loads...but only to a point. I never count how many firings for brass...(and never for a particular rifle) However, I do all my loading on a single stage press and prefer ball powders that meter well...(although I do use stick for many loads) When using ball powders I measure every 10th case to make sure my powder thrower is still accurately metering powder, I also check OAL every 10th case. Now this is just for my plinking ammo. For hunting ammo I weigh EVERY charge (usually stick powder) and check every OAL. I also seal my hunting ammo primers with orange nail polish.

I also build each round one at a time from start to finish (except for priming) I bulk prime my brass with a hand primer unit...but then each round is taken to the bench and built to completion in sequence. Meaning...I put in powder, set a boolit (or bullet), check OAL...then factory crimp on a second press. Then that round goes into the box...I'm then on to the next round. This method keeps me from accidentally over charging or creating squib loads.

Its my method...and I'll stick to it.

redhawk

[W.R.Buchanan]

Redhawk:

I do the same thing with my good rifle ammo. After priming they get assembled to completion one at a time, for the same reason as you.

Randy

[redhawk0]

Redhawk:

I do the same thing with my good rifle ammo. After priming they get assembled to completion one at a time, for the same reason as you.

Randy

It's nice to know I'm not the only one out there that does it this way. :-D

redhawk

[tazman]

If they stay in this hobby very long, everyone develops a system that works for them regarding the sequence they do things.
A lot depends on their requirements for quality and volume.
If your system works for you and produces what you need, well and good.

[Dieselhorses]

If they stay in this hobby very long, everyone develops a system that works for them regarding the sequence they do things.
A lot depends on their requirements for quality and volume.
If your system works for you and produces what you need, well and good.I'm with Tazman. Develop a system and DO NOT be complacent. Complacency leads to preventitive accidents. Take your time and revel in your hard earned achievments !

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[fatelk]

I feel compelled to respond to this thread as this is both one of my pet peeves and goals in life.

As a Machinist it kind of becomes necessary to be particular to a certain extent, depending on the job. I have to sell the things I make to a variety of customers. One being the US Navy.

I have a"source inspection" on Monday and the parts I am trying to sell will be scrutinized closely. I had to scrutinize them first and couldn't let inadequacies pass thru as the Inspector will catch them, and reject the parts, and I won't get paid! I kind of need the money so I have to make it go right.

My Friend John Dembura told me along time ago that the two components of Craftsmanship are,,,

1. Attention to Detail
2. Personal Responsibility.

...

You make some great points from a machinist's perspective. It reminds me a little of something my first machine tool instructor said, on the first day of class many, many years ago. He said there were two things he didn't want to ever hear in his class: "Perfect" and "Good enough". What he wanted to see were projects that were "in spec".

He said if anyone brought him a machine project and told him it was perfect, he would find a better measuring tool and show that it wasn't, and if we ever asked him if something was good enough, he would ask in return if it was in spec. If the spec on the project was ±.001" and we brought him a part that was three thousandths out, he would reject it as shoddy work. Conversely, if the spec was ±.1" and we spent a half hour making it "perfect", we would be in trouble for wasting time. In a shop either one will get you fired.

Since each of us is loading for ourselves, we determine our own specs, and our time is ours to waste. I reject my own work as shoddy occasionally, even though it may well be in spec and acceptable by some standards. :)

[Bigslug]

I work with people that are borderline OCD and that's just how they function. And I know people that are in the "perfection is the enemy of adequate" category.

I like that. I like that A LOT.

When Dad & I were heavy into Highpower in the '90's and early '00's, we were integrating a lot of the Benchrest loading techniques we picked up reading Precision Shooting Magazine. The reality we woke up to is that Highpower requires 1 MOA results for perfect scores and that, in a standing/ sitting/prone/rapid fire game like that, 1 MOA is nearly impossible to achieve no matter how good the ammo is.

Any more, my process is to ask "What is this gun or ammo for?" before I even get started. Over the years, Pop and I have refined our load workup process so that we frontload the anal-retentive stuff in the development phase and can pretty much mass produce good results thereafter, but I no longer DEMAND that deer rifles and defensive handguns shoot cloverleaf groups at impractical ranges. Life is just too dang short.

[BD]

I'm in the mixed bag camp. I have two rifles that I am very particular about. One is my old high power ar with about 4,500 rounds through it and I'm starting to have to chase the lands a little to keep it around 1/2 MOA. The other is a custom 28 nosler with less than 200 yards through it, but it's a lightweight build and needs precision loading to stay at MOA and the same POI out to 400 yards. On the other hand, I have Swedish Mausers that are very happy and accurate with most anything I feed them, and 1911s that I load for on the progressive press using barely sorted boolits from the master caster and 100% mixed range brass. My 1911 "games" gun has somewhere over 100,000 rounds through it at this point and I have never seen any appreciable difference in accuracy between my mass produced ammo and very carefully weighed and measured ammo in it, so I don't bother. I think in general the accuracy of all of my handguns has a lot more to do with how many rounds I manage to shoot through them each year, than how carefully I load for them.

[Bent Ramrod]

Most of my guns were bought used, so I have no idea how many rounds were fired in them. I don’t count the number of rounds fired in either them or the few new ones I have.

I keep records of the loads I test for accuracy, which are five shot groups of loads that go from minimum to maximum powder charge for a given load. Once the optimum charge is obtained, I set the powder measure and live with the variation.

If I fire a group or two in the future off the bench, I might record it to show the load proves out. If I’m target shooting or plinking, it might be years before I put another notation in the notebook for that particular gun. Of course, if I try a new powder or boolit, the process is recorded again. The powder measure settings for the optimum loads of the various powders are recorded, and I check them on the scale at start and every ten throws. I record the given load data on a piece of paper in the ammo box.

Bookkeeping is only of interest to me to the extent that it gets me good loads. The point is shooting, as far as I’m concerned.

[Petrol & Powder]

I like that. I like that A LOT.

When Dad & I were heavy into Highpower in the '90's and early '00's, we were integrating a lot of the Benchrest loading techniques we picked up reading Precision Shooting Magazine. The reality we woke up to is that Highpower requires 1 MOA results for perfect scores and that, in a standing/ sitting/prone/rapid fire game like that, 1 MOA is nearly impossible to achieve no matter how good the ammo is.

Any more, my process is to ask "What is this gun or ammo for?" before I even get started. Over the years, Pop and I have refined our load workup process so that we frontload the anal-retentive stuff in the development phase and can pretty much mass produce good results thereafter, but I no longer DEMAND that deer rifles and defensive handguns shoot cloverleaf groups at impractical ranges. Life is just too dang short.

That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell. You can spend as much time & effort as you desire but there are diminishing returns and practical limitations. As I said earlier, this topic breaks down into doing things because of personality traits and doing things to achieve specific results.
I reload for a heavy barrel 308 and it will make 1 hole cloverleaf's in paper at 100 yards all day long. But that's shooting from a bench at a piece of paper. Fun, but not terribly useful.
I shoot far more handgun than rifle these days and I see no need to put the same time & effort into my loading practices with handgun cartridges to achieve a result that just will not matter.

However, if other people enjoy that effort they certainly can do as they please.

[Victor N TN]

I think I've shot everything competitive except shotgun. I just never did get into that. But my 45acp goes through the Dillon. I have a couple of hundred match cases for it. But that's not too bad.

The 223 goes through the Dillon. I did everything on it by hand until I got a real sweet shooting load. Then I adjusted the Dillon to make them like that. All other rifles get done one at a time.

My benchrest rifles get everything weighed and measured multiple times. We made and sold benchrest bullets for several years. When my health got to the point I had to take too much medications. I made up what I had started and just quit.

The one thing I would say to a beginning handloader has been said on here dozens of time in the thread, BE CAREFUL !
Thanks for the time.
Victor

[W.R.Buchanan]

Reloading on a progressive loader is pretty much the same thing as running a Turret Lathe. The end result is a completed part.

The rule in the machine shop for producing parts is, "Find out what works,,, and do that."

The same holds true for a progressive loader or even a single stage loader. You figure out what you have to do to produce an acceptable round and then repeat the process.

This is what loading ammunition is all about.

Randy

[woodbutcher]

:D Most interesting and informative thread.Thanks for posting.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[leebuilder]

Very informative thread!!!!
I am particular and I am not so particular, but there are lines I won't cross. I have been ultra carful and had bad results and more or less slapped rounds together and had phenomenal results, that's why I am still learning (only been handloading 31 years).
An old guy at the range once told me "I don't reload I handload, anyone can jerk a handle on a reloading press".
Took me a while to figure that perfect statement out, and it's true. I haven't reloaded since, now I handload, fliers and keyholes included.
Be safe

[toallmy]

Although my ammunition is reloaded with new components , they are custom loads worked up for particular firearm . I take offense to my ammunition being labeled as reloads , most shooters cannot comprehend the effort that goes into producing a good worked up custom load . But to lighten things up a bit , I suppose after all the work up I produce reloaded ammo:-P .

[trapper9260]

I am picky of who I am around that I shoot around and I am picky on who is around me when I do reloading and also gun safety ,but not on how many rounds that is shot in a gun or how many times brass been use or shotgun hulls use.It works for me. I know each have there own way of things also. I have my own range and stick with that.